Man gets 8 years in prison for attack

The operator of Anthony's Pool and Spa, who pleaded no contest in October to attacking an employee, was sentenced to over eight years in prison Monday.

By Vishal PersaudStaff writer

A man who pleaded no contest in October to attacking an employee of Anthony's Pool and Spa was sentenced to more than eight years in prison Monday.

Anthony E. Manno, 45, was charged with attempted second-degree murder and aggravated battery with a weapon in January 2012 after he allegedly attacked James Self inside the store on State Road 40.

Manno is married to the store owner but never worked there.

Police said Manno attacked Self from behind and threw him to the ground. A fight ensued and another employee broke it up. Self left the store and Manno chased after him, tackled him to the ground and punched and kicked him, according to a police report.

Self sustained a deep cut to his neck and told an off-duty paramedic who attended to him that Manno tried to slash his neck with a razor blade or piece of glass.

Self was later taken to Shands at the University of Florida for treatment.

In addition to prison time, Manno will be under house arrest for two years and then placed on 10 years of probation. Once of out of prison, he'll have to undergo mental health treatment and not have any contact with the victim.

He will also have to pay a $5,000 fine and more than $2,000 in restitution to the victim.

Before sentencing, Manno's defense attorney, Jack Maro, asked the court for a downward departure in Manno's sentence, citing the defendant's long history of mental health problems.

Maro said Manno has been in and out of The Centers, a local mental health treatment center, and was diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder — a combination of bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and manic depression.

Maro said Manno had been off of his medication the day of the incident. After the incident in the store, Manno decided to follow Self outside to apologize. But, Maro said, Self antagonized Manno, which led to the subsequent attack.

Authorities later found Manno in a car in Orange County, where he attempted to commit suicide in his Dodge pickup at a service plaza about 30 miles south of Ocala.

All these points, Margo argued, were grounds for a downward departure of the sentence.

Circuit Judge Hale Stancil denied that request.

“It just seems like it was pretty darn serious what you (Manno) were doing,” Stancil said.

In a brief statement, Manno apologized for the incident, explaining that he was upset with Self. Dressed in a striped red-and-white jail uniform and wearing a pair of black-rimmed rectangular glasses, Manno appeared slightly nervous.

After looking at a pre-sentence investigation prepared by the state Department of Corrections detailing Manno's background, Stancil found that the attempted murder case was Manno's 10th serious brush with the law.

“This is very, very serious what you did here,” Stancil said.

Once the judge handed down the sentence, Manno turned to look at his wife sitting in the courtroom and shook his head.